Russia prioritizes tanks over healthcare as economic woes deepen

According to March surveys by the Levada Centre (an independent public opinion research centre), the majority of Russians support Putin and look to the future optimistically, believing the country is heading in the right direction. Does this mean that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has not significantly impacted the daily lives of Russians?

According to research by the Anti-Corruption Foundation from early 2025, the financial situation of nearly one-third of Russians has worsened. As many as 96 per cent of Russians have noticed rising prices in shops. Moreover, inflation has forced 35 per cent of citizens to change their eating habits, reports "Fakt."

Interestingly, only 8 per cent of respondents indicate that Vladimir Putin is responsible for this situation.

Leonid Volkov, an associate of Alexei Navalny, living in exile in Lithuania, told "Fakt" that Russia is a very diverse country, making it difficult to speak of a "typical Russian." For example, Moscow is 13 times wealthier than the average Russian city. Nevertheless, some changes can currently be seen throughout the country.

For example, the impact of the war on healthcare. People feel terrible about this because all the money is spent on the war. If the authorities have to choose between building a new tank or purchasing an ultrasound machine or an MRI, they always prefer to buy a tank," Volkov emphasised.

The oppositionist also noted that the situation in Russian hospitals has worsened, and the waiting time for medical tests has significantly increased. "It used to take a week to schedule an ultrasound. Now it's about two months, simply because there is no more medical equipment," explained the guest on the programme "The World According to Poland."

Serious problems have also emerged in civil aviation, which has been heavily impacted by sanctions. Volkov explained that Russia has to "cannibalise" its fleet of Boeings and Airbuses, and domestic Sukhoi Superjet planes are of low quality and frequently break down. This leads to numerous delays and flight cancellations, further complicating the situation.

Problems are also visible in the real estate market. Since Russians are not volunteering for the army, the authorities — as an incentive — are increasing the pay. To this end, as Volkov pointed out, they are printing a lot of money, which has raised the central bank's interest rate to 21 per cent.

And now mortgage interest rates are about 30 per cent, which has obviously destroyed the real estate market and is a severe crisis in the Russian economy," Volkov noted.

Though there is no shortage of problems in Russia, the oppositionist has no illusions. As he emphasised, Russia is a fascist dictatorship where all decisions are made by Vladimir Putin. According to Volkov, the dictator believes he "can continue leadership for another 15 years."